This is what I have been working on these past few weeks........they were fun to make just a little time consuming! I had never appliqued with a sewing machine before and just sort of followed the directions I had and did my best for the names.....I think they turned out adorable and I can't wait to make some now for my kiddos....I just need a little break from doing all these first!Second time seeing Santa!

I talked Brec into seeing Santa this time......I told him that Santa was nice and that he brings presents and that if he sits on his lap he will give him a candy cane and then I sort of just left him there and told him to smile....notice he won't even touch Santa! Also, my friend Kristin made Ava's adorable Christmas shirt and bow! Love them.....she is so talented.....

The kids wanted to play in the snow right when we got there! It was their first time seeing it this year and Ava could have cared less about wearing a coat! We had yummy hot chocolate afterwards!
Sledding! The snow was crunchy and then your foot would fall through, so it was so hard to walk in! Plus it was freezing! We still had a fun time and Ava even said she was happy to live in Arizona where it is warm! My hubby was proud.......

This pic was after church so they definitely look a little messy.....but I still wanted to capture a pic in their holiday clothes. We had a great program this year in Sacrament meeting......btw...loved it....


Here we are in our P.J.'s.....the only gift that we open on Christmas Eve....this was our first Christmas alone with no family!!! We decided this year not to drive up to Utah so we had our own evening of fun.....

We sang Christmas songs and of course read about the birth of Christ. We then had some hot chocolate and pulled out the bed from the couch and watched Polar Express! We then left out cookies and milk for Santa and Ava got extra excited when she was able to track where Santa was online......online it showed that he was in Georgia when she was going to bed and she thought that was really close to our house because she doesn't get distances, so she kept looking out the window until we told her that Santa wouldn't come unless we were asleep in our beds!!! She fell asleep fast........

Christmas Day we went and saw the Princess and the Frog! Ava was really excited about it, but during the movie got a stomach ache and wanted to go home. We were able to stay for the whole movie, but that explains the sad picture above just after we got out of the movie. Unfortunately Ava was sick the rest of the day and threw up that evening.....Briant also got a little stomach bug too.....totally ruined the fact that I had made a yummy Christmas dinner with ham, potatoes, rolls, green beans, and banana cream pie and nobody really felt like it but me and Brec. All in all, Christmas was great and definitely felt stress free....no rushing around, driving in snow, etc. We really did miss everyone though and hopefully next year we can celebrate Christmas with more family!





